MasterCard Sensitises on Cashless Policy

MasterCard Worldwide has stressed the need for bank customers, merchants and other payments industry stakeholders to embrace the on-going drive for a cashless economy.

A statement said the payment and technology made the call at a five-day workshop held in Lagos. The training focused on card acceptance best practices, with emphasis on card security, fraud identification and management, Points of Sale (PoS), amongst others.

Country Manager, West Africa, MasterCard, Omokehinde Ojomuyide: “MasterCard envisions a world beyond cash, a goal that mirrors the cashless policy conceptualised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN. We support this policy that aims to modernise the country’s payment systems.

“One of the key elements is reducing the cost of banking services and the cost of cash, as well as growing financial inclusion by providing more efficient transaction options and greater reach.”
Continuing, she said: “It also aims to curb the high cost of using and accepting cash as a payment method, and prevent corruption, leakage, money laundering and other fraudulent activities that cash can enable.”

She said the global cash usage of $8.3 trillion of consumer purchases annually were made outside the formal economy using cash.

“This includes an estimated $6.8 trillion of underground economy purchases and approximately $1.5 trillion in illegal purchases. On the other hand, electronic payments, by its very nature, create a clear and concise record of payments made.”

“This is of benefit not only in crime prevention, but also to businesses, which will benefit from formal insights into the financial activities of their company and the ability to closely monitor income and expenditure by persons authorised to transact on their behalf.”